Finally back again! Sorry for leaving y'all hanging like that. I've actually had this typed up for a while now, I just kept forgetting to edit and post it on here, among other problems. ^^; My bad...!
So, anyway. Read. Review. ENJOY!
Tara continued to return his stony stare. She refused to be the first to speak. Eventually, he sighed heavily, lacing his fingers and resting his hands against the stainless steel table between them.
"Agent Surandon, I don't like this any more than you do."
Liar. You've been looking forward to this since before the end of the last round of testing.
"Then approve my request. Give Agent Sasaki more time."
"The Subject."
"Excuse me?"
"It was established long ago that we would refer to Agent Sasaki as The Subject."
Trying to distance yourself from your crimes, you bastard? "...Acknowledged. My mistake, sir. Give The Subject more time, sir, I implore you!"
He leaned towards her suspiciously. "Why are you so hellbent on this, Agent Surandon? You've been up here in Washington pleading your case for about a week now. Why?"
Because I still have a heart. "Sir, The Subject is not even sixteen. She's out on the field, free to make her own decisions on the mission for the first time in her life. Half of the things she's encountered so far have been a mystery to her, even things as simple as...probably...public restrooms! Do you honestly want to be the man who tells her to come back for more testing that might end her life before it ever began?" she demanded to know, pleading with her wide hazel eyes.
"What if she was one of your little girls, sir? What if she was Angela, or little Suzie? Sir, I have looked after L- ...The Subject...for almost eight years, and she is almost like a little Angela or little Suzie of my own. And I dare ask you, sir...to look in those big brown eyes of hers, still bright with curiosity and rebellion and longing for independence...and I dare you to tell her her life is over. I dare you," she hissed, staring at him.
They attempted to stare each other down, their auras clashing and colliding violently. Finally, he spoke, and his voice was stern. "Agent Surandon, I believe being with all the young Agents for so long has made you soft. The fact of the matter is that The Subject knew what she was signing up for, just like any other Agent in this business. Every Agent has the potential to be subject to testing. Every Agent knows they could be terminated for the better of The Agency. The Subject is no exception. She will undergo testing, and she will suffer the consequences of her actions."
"Of what actions?"
"Refusal to return for testing."
"What?"
He flung his hands up with a bitter chuckle. "Do you see The Subject here? Do you, Agent Surandon?"
"But, sir...She doesn't even know she's wanted for testing!" Tara nearly shouted, her blood pressure rising.
As if on cue, her superior clutched his earpiece, nodding. "...Oh? Good, very good. Yes. Her room is fine. Testing will commence later, after questioning. Very good, Agent. Yes."
Tara's blood ran cold, trying desperately to read his thoughts to try and convince herself he wasn't talking about Luna. Please tell me...Please tell me he didn't-
"You see, Agent Surandon, I can tell by your panicked expression that you have a good idea of what has already taken place. Despite what you might like to believe, I overrule you. I can act without your consultation. And my action, in this case, was to make sure The Subject was here and accounted for in time for her testing. Our Allies have been gracious and agreed to let the testing commence some time after the intense round of questioning waiting for her as to her mission, her defiance, and her relations with various citizens of Konoha we view threatening. I am sorry to inform you your case was not approved by me nor my superiors. We need the results of that Subject, and you know it as much as I do."
"She could die, sir. Does that not affect you at all? We have never tested on a Subject that young before, during or preceding my career here!"
"If The Subject dies, so be it. It is necessary for the further development of science. And for our country; to find out what exactly her body's unique make-up is would be to open the door to new biological advances, warfare aspects and otherwise."
Tara slammed her hands against the stainless-steel table, rising out of her seat and glaring at him. "Eight, sir."
"Excuse me?"
"Luna Sasaki was an eight-year-old girl when she first arrived at this Agency. The only reason she has to put up with this testing is because her brother signed them both up to work here. To save his little sister from starving to death. And since then, how has the Agency held up their promise of sheltering and protecting her? They've poked her, prodded her, given her the bare necessities of survival and nourishment, stuck needles in her thin arms, denied her of a childhood she might have been able to salvage, performed an unnecessary surgery of unknown results, and have been attempting to erase most of her memories throughout her life. I wonder, sir, how your conscience must feel? Knowing you and your superiors have deliberately failed to keep the promise you gave to a sick, scared, starving young man who wanted nothing more than to give his sister a future and keep her from death one day at a time?" she fumed, screaming at him by the end of her rant.
He stared at her; she had felt his surprise at finding out how young she had been, and Tara nodded at him. "Ah, I see. You are surprised your beloved superiors kept the entire truth from you. I will leave you to your conscience, sir. I have a mission I am late for in Philadelphia. I see now I wasted my time; what a lost cause, trying to save The Subject," she seethed with obvious disdain.
"...Dismissed," he called out weakly after her as she slammed the door, her eyes crimson. Agents passing by tried not to glance at her too noticeably as Tara took a deep breath, smoothing down the skirt of her suit, her eyes slowly starting to return to normal.
...Luna...Hang in there. I've still got plan B...
MEANWHILE...
Naruto nearly tripped over roughly twenty objects scattered around his house as he made sharp turns towards his room.
Her bags were still on the floor. Good. That meant her phone was still there, too. Naruto glanced around before finally finding it on the floor by her side of the bed, and he picked it up, spastically trying to put the pieces back together.
Sakura ran in not long after, Sasuke not far behind. "What is that?" she asked, green eyes wide. "Cell phone," he said absently, pushing the battery back in and trying to slide the back closed.
"It's Luna's. She uses it to call people," he added before finally groaning in frustration and throwing the back of the phone somewhere behind him. "SCREW IT! TURN ON! NOW, DAMMIT!" he shouted, holding down the red button like she'd taught him.
Finally, it vibrated to life, and they all let out sighs of relief. "Who're you calling on that thing?"
"Becs."
"Which is who?"
"Loon's best friend. She'll know where she's going."
"Unless she doesn't know what the hell's going on, either," Sasuke muttered, but Sakura elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow."
"Shh!"
Naruto pressed the green button, and sure enough, Becs' name was listed under a list titled "Recent Calls". He pressed the green button again after scrolling to her name, and it started ringing.
After two rings, she picked up with a giggle. "H-Hello?" she asked through her laughter.
"Where's Luna?" he demanded, and Sakura sweatdropped at his bluntness.
"...Huh? Isn't she still on standby in Konoha? With you? ...This IS Naruto Uzumaki, right?"
"Yeah, of course it's me! But...I figured you'd know where she is..."
"Why, what happened?" she asked, panic obvious in her voice.
"Well, I'm not really sure myself, uhhh...We were...doing something...when Alex showed up, only he looked a lot different, and he whistled and three random people showed up and put her in handcuffs and-" He cut off as Becs suddenly let out a weak little noise.
"...No...They couldn't have...!"
"What?"
"...She...Loony, noooo, I told her to get out while she could," she moaned, making Naruto wince. He was hoping she could've just waved off the slight fear that had been rising in his gut, and that she'd tell him Luna was fine and she'd be back in an hour.
"Becs, what'd they do?" he asked in a voice so grim that Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a worried look.
"...It sounds an awful lot like they...they arrested her. I can't believe this! They fucking arrested her!"
"...They mentioned...testing," he admitted with a sigh, knowing she'd get upset. But he had to know if that could give her a clue as to where Luna was going. Had to.
Sure enough, she made that gasp-slash-sob noise again, drawing in a shuddery breath. "No...Not testing again. She can't go through that again! It'll destroy her, she'll remember it all this time, she's too old, they won't care about erasing that memory, they'll-"
"Becs, Becs, FOCUS. I need to know where they're taking her. I have to know where the Agency is."
There was a pause on the other end, but finally, she replied. "...It's in Washington. Washington, DC. Ichigo and I will be there as soon as we can, we'll-"
"I'm sorry, but I can't wait for you. I have to go now. Maybe I could still catch up to them," he said hopefully.
"But, Naruto, you-"
"I know I have no clue where Washington, DC is! Still...I can't just sit and wait."
"We can be there in-"
"Too long a time, that's when. ...Thanks, Becs. Hey, maybe you'll catch up to me since I have no idea where I'm going," he said with slight cheerfulness.
"But Naruto-"
"Thanks."
With that, he hung up and tossed the phone to the side before shooting to his feet, heading in a beeline for the den.
"What're you doing? Where're you going?" Sakura wondered, following him.
"Weren't you listening? I don't know," he replied distractedly, grabbing some of the many Flavor-Blasted Goldfish.
After nearly tripping over the box, he decided it was a sign and grabbed the weird machine Santa had given him, too.
"That's all you're taking with you? You idiot," Sasuke said with a shake of the head, making Naruto's temple throb.
"I don't exactly have much time, here! If I hurry up and get going, I won't need much at all!" he insisted, and after a moment of thought, decided against taking Luna's gun with him.
Besides, knowing her, she probably still had it on her.
"...I'll be back soon," he assured them before running off, making Sasuke and Sakura groan before running after him.
"Naruto-"
"You can't change my mind, I'm going whether you like it or not! If I don't, who's gonna help her, huh?" he shouted over his shoulder, continuing to head for the well at breakneck speed.
"WE'RE NOT TRYING TO STOP YOU, DUMBASS!" Sakura shouted after him, almost at his side.
Naruto shook his head with a smirk as he leapt down the well from the tree limb he was on, hearing similar noises as the other two hesitantly followed his lead.
"Just don't slow me down."
When they reached the other side of the well, landing asses first at the bottom, Naruto was the first to his feet. "Prepare to be amazed, but don't stop to look at anything. We're heading straight for the temporary house, no detours," he instructed, making Sasuke's temple throb.
"Never in my life would I have imagined Naruto ever leading a mission."
"Well, he is now. Mission Impossible," Sakura grumbled, swatting branches of the bent trees out of her way as they ran after him.
Naruto knew she was being sarcastic and pissy, but he still felt a twinge of fear in his gut. It did seem kind of impossible. ...No. No, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna save her. And it's gonna work, and it's gonna be a piece of cake. Yeah!
Finally, they reached the house he'd mentioned, and Naruto pounded on the back door. "OPEN UP!" he bellowed, and Renji opened the door with a temple throb.
"...Naruto? The hell you doin' here?"
"Did they go this way?"
"Huh? Who?"
"The ones that took Luna, dumbass!" he shouted, looking past Renji to see if anyone else was there.
To his horror, Will was. And he was starting to turn rather pale, the lo mein he'd been slurping staying frozen halfway in his mouth. "...WHAT happened to my sister?"
Luna considered biting him. She honestly did. Alex was the one to escort her back to her room, one of his hands on the small of her back and the other grabbing both her wrists, which were still bent at a downright painful angle behind her back.
Both hands pushing her forward. His voice was the sheer embodiment of smug.
"I told you to get out while you could. But you didn't listen. Remember the days when you used to listen to me? The days where you stayed alive? Oh, I didn't have any bulletholes from you that I had to worry about then, either. Ahhh, those were the days. Then again, I guess you're too busy making out with Demon Boys to bother with shooting me. So I guess that's good. ...Except my brain feels like it's permanently fried with that image of you guys."
"Shut up please."
"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you. I find that people The Agency arrests usually talk infinitely quieter. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. I just find it hard to believe you could've sunk so fucking LOW as to-"
Luna wrenched herself out of his grip, turning to face him as she growled. "I. Said. Shut. UP! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! IT'S BETTER TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND LET ME THINK YOU'RE A DUMBASS THAN REMOVING ALL MY DOUBT!" she screeched, making everyone passing by turn to look at them.
Alex glared at her before making her turn back around, putting her cuffs on a tighter setting and smiling reassuringly at everyone as she hissed in pain, her back arching slightly to try and lessen the strain on her wrists.
Her finger still wasn't entirely healed from the Manor of Sleep, the last thing she needed was a dislocated wrist. Or two.
"...And for your information, I haven't sunk low at all. Naruto Uzumaki is a better person than you could ever hope to be. If anything, I have risen just by being friends with him."
"Will you listen to yourself?" Alex wondered with disgust as they reached her room. "Thank God you weren't that way about me. It's sickening."
He undid her handcuffs, and she sighed with relief, rubbing at her wrists.
"They told me you'll be undergoing questioning soon. Tomorrow, probably. After that, it's off to your first round of testing."
"Yes, thanks to you," she seethed, not giving him the pleasure of looking at the anger on her face by keeping her back to him. Which, in hindsight, was a stupid idea.
"To think I ever fell in love with you! You're sickening, how cowardly and spineless you are. Look at you, hiding under that new look of yours just to screw me over! That's how much you love me, huh? Willing to let me die here!" she fumed, practically shouting at him.
Luna felt something hard ram into the back of her head, where it met her neck, and she instantly felt dazed and confused. Her eyelids drooped as she slumped, and he caught her. "Luna, you're always yelling," he muttered, tucking hair behind her ear before whispering into it, "Don't cause a scene. It'll just make things worse for you."
And then the ground went out from under her, she plopped against her bed a few moments later, and then it all went black and silent as she heard her door being slammed shut.